The Wolf's Mate Book 3: Callie & The Cats (37 page)

His heart cracked but he helped her to sit up
and said, “You can, love, you’re so close to seeing our children.
You can do this; you’re the strongest person I know.”

Whether bolstered by his words or a pressing
contraction, she bore down, digging her fingers into his hand and
yelling out a curse that ended on a sob of relief as their first
child was brought into the world.

“Yes, baby! You did it!” Ethan cheered from
the other side of the bed.

“It’s a boy!” Sarah declared, turning the
baby around quickly to show them and then handing him to one nurse
while she tied the cord. “Which name did you want for our first,
kitten?” Ethan asked, tears slipping down his cheeks as he cut the
first cord.

“Elliott James.”

Sarah reminded them all that there was one
more coming and Callie seemed renewed by the sight of her first
born child and she brought their second son into the world without
a curse this time, but plenty of tears.

They relaxed her back slowly to the bed and
the other nurse took their second child – Evan Roman – to where
Elliott was after Eryx cut the cord.

The nurses disappeared to the corner of the
room to weigh and measure them and give them their first baths.
Eryx held Callie’s hand tightly while Sarah tended to her and Ethan
took pictures of their sons while the nurses cared for them. Ethan
returned after a few minutes, his eyes shining with happiness.
Pressing a kiss to her forehead Ethan said, “I’m just so proud of
you, Callie.”

She smiled sleepily as finally the nurses
brought over the babies and handed Elliott to Ethan and Evan to
him.

Eryx looked down into the face of his son and
all the love he’d ever felt in his heart was amplified by a
million. He’d not believed in love at first sight until he met
Callie, and now he knew that even as a father, he would never love
anyone as much as he loved his family – his brother, his wife, and
his children. They were all parts of a whole. A whole family.

“Look at my brother, the softie.” Ethan
chuckled as Eryx scrubbed the back of his hand over his eyes.

“Can’t help it. I’m just so damn happy.”

“Hey. Watch the swearing,” Callie said with a
tired smile.

“Sorry, angel.” He winked at her and joined
Ethan on the other side of the bed where they switched babies to
say hello and he whispered into Elliott’s ear, “You’re the oldest,
Elliott. That means you have to take good care of your brother
because he needs you as much as you need him.”

“Give me my babies,” Callie said, and held
out her arms. After some positioning and discussion about the
breast feeding book they’d read together, both boys were happily
nursing away, making hungry slurping sounds.

“Well, they’re definitely Fallon men.” Ethan
declared with a laugh at the way they latched right onto her
breasts.

By the time the babies were fed, Callie had
fallen asleep despite her attempts to stay awake and involved in
the first precious minutes of their children’s lives. While Ethan
went to get their family, Eryx unlatched the babies from her
breasts, placed them in the bassinets at the foot of the bed, and
covered her up with a blanket. She looked like a real angel, with a
small smile on her lush mouth even in sleep.

Ethan scooped Evan up from his bassinet and
their father, Alek, and their uncles and Lisa cooed quietly over
the newest additions to the family.

Their father held Elliott and said, “Ah, they
look just like the two of you did. It’s wonderful, boys. I’m so
proud of you.”

Alek hugged him and Ethan, saying he was glad
that he’d come and was happy for them. He was an uncle for the
first time and it was clear on his face that although he thought
their wife was a fluke and that lions weren’t meant to have real
mates, that he was thrilled to have nephews to fawn over.

“She’s the difference.” Uncle John said.
“When Beth had Jilly, she didn’t even call me when she went into
labor, she just showed up at the house one afternoon and told me
that my child was at the hospital waiting to be picked up. But you
got to be there, and hold her hand and support her, and you’re a
real family now. What we’ve all always longed for. I’m so happy for
the three of you.”

“The five of us.” Ethan said, coming to stand
next to Eryx.

Five’s a very good number.

Chapter 25

**Callie**

Some Time Later...

She tried to roll over when she heard first
one sharp cry followed quickly by a second one, but her large belly
got in the way. “Elliott always riles up Evan,” she groused,
rolling to her back and rubbing at her sleep deprived eyes.

“It’s true. The oldest is always causing the
youngest problems.” Ethan leaned over and kissed her forehead,
taking a carefully worded jab at Eryx. “I’ll see what they
want.”

Eryx slid his hand across her five month baby
belly. Thankfully, just a single this time, but an unexpected
single at that. The twins were only 18 months old. She thought she
had been too tired to remember her birth control.

“If this baby isn’t the last one for a while,
I’m going to make you guys start wearing condoms.” She threatened.
Eryx’s hand dipped down the bump of her belly and teased her
thighs.

“I don’t know, angel, you said you love to
feel us come deep inside you. Condoms will stop that.”

Ethan walked back into the bedroom after
finding Evan’s favorite stuffed wolf and Elliott’s blanket, “Ugh,
who said condom?”

“Your wife. She doesn’t want another cub for
a while.”

Ethan spied Eryx’s hands moving under the
sheet and he smiled as he slid into bed next to her. “It’s not our
fault you are so irresistible.”

She supposed not. But only for them. She
closed her eyes and told them she was tired, but they could hear
that she was teasing and they took their time bringing her around
to their way of thinking. Which was, of course, that there was no
such thing as being too tired for sex.

In the last 19 months of her life, so much
had changed. Not even two years ago, she walked away from the only
home she’d ever known and made plans to “go human”. She didn't even
recognize the girl from Allen, and that was a good thing. She and
Cades had reconciled after the birth of Cades' daughter Lyric. They
sent occasional emails and had the cursory birthday phone call, but
the friendship was strained that one night at the rehearsal dinner,
and there were some things that just couldn't be forgotten or taken
back. James, who stepped easily into place as her surrogate father,
told her that friendships were meant to evolve and that sometimes
evolution meant it disappeared. Cades didn’t fit into her life
anymore and distance didn’t always make the heart grow fonder.
Sometimes it made things …distant. She would always be a wolf, and
the Allen pack was family for her when she had none, and Cades was
like a sister. But nothing ever really stayed the same, and
although she did miss her terribly at times, she wouldn’t trade her
life with Ethan and Eryx for anything in the world.

They ate dinner at the Pope’s one Sunday
night a month, and the rest of the Sundays they ate at the boarding
house. John and Alek were getting ready to come to Ashland. Henry
was ecstatic, but John was devastated at the loss of his only
daughter. Callie wished that she could fix what was broken inside
Jilly, but mountain lion females were not meant to be mates, they
were meant to continue the were-species and obliterate any threats
to their pure lines. Except for that last attempt by Melania to
derail their marriage, they hadn’t heard from them. The lionesses
lost a handful of their most eligible and gracious males because of
Callie, but they were happy together and safe and that was enough
for her. For all of them.

Someone asked her once if the boys ever
fought over her and they were surprised when she said no. She was
sure that in a human ménage, jealousies and pettiness could ruin
things, but between Ethan and Eryx, there was just love. It was a
symptom of their mountain lion natures that they cared as much
about each other’s happiness as they did hers. And they loved each
other enough to share her and they loved her even more than that.
And now their children were growing up in a world where mountain
lions had a mother that would love them with every fiber of her
being, and that was the start of a good evolution.

Several months after their third child,
Cameron Alek was born, James showed up at their home with startling
news. Melania and Farrah had been killed by the girlfriend of one
of Ethan and Eryx’s high school friends and fellow pride-mates,
Paul. Paul had taken to heart that he could leave the pride with
his human girlfriend and follow in their footsteps. The females had
revolted against that notion, going full force at the poor woman
and threatening her. One night, they broke into her house and tried
to kill her, and she just happened to be a gun-toting federal
marshal and shot them both dead. The females in the pride scattered
and that left the males on their own, a new dawn for their kind, as
it were, in the wake of those deaths.

Not too long after it happened, a group of
male lions called to ask if they could come to Ashland to live. She
knew even before the subject was discussed at dinner that the men
would welcome them with open arms and help them in any way. Two of
the males were James’ age, but the rest were all in their twenties
and eager to start fresh in a new town but still have the pride as
back up. She could understand that feeling, the need for a safety
net of family even as you spread your wings. She could easily
spread her wings now because her feet were firmly rooted with her
family.

Before the males showed up, she asked the
boys if they wanted to go back to King to live now that it was free
of females, but they both said no. Ashland had become their home
and now, with Alek, John and Henry with them, along with the new
males, and the pall of the females in the pride gone, they were
finally free.

She’ll never know why the lion females were
made the way they were, to have no interest in the softer things in
life, or why the males were so tenderhearted and caring. It was
like most things in life…just the way that it was. She never wanted
for an extra set of hands to help with the kids or a babysitter in
the form of an uncle if she needed a nap or they needed a night
out. And even Alek, who hadn’t come to understand what love really
was all about yet and was angry to be cast aside by the brothers he
loved so much, had started to come around. And it might just have
had something to do with Sarah the were-bear midwife and her sweet
smile and kind heart.

Every night, Callie rocked her baby boy to
sleep and kissed the soft, dark heads of her twin sons before
getting ready for bed. Some nights, when Ethan was working the
ambulance and it was just her and Eryx, they would make love for
hours in the quiet stillness of the house, thankful for their
fleeting time alone together and the circumstances that caused
their lives to intersect. When Ethan could stay in bed with her in
the mornings before their children woke and Eryx was already at the
station, it was a special sort of quiet and love that settled over
the house when it was just two of them spending time in a different
way than they usually did. Most nights, the three of them were
tangled up under the blankets, reveling in their love. Shifting on
the full moons, she played chase with her sons. They didn’t know
yet whether they would be wolves or lions, or possibly even
neither, but it didn’t matter. They were hers.

Her life was set in stone for her some time
ago, and she took a hammer and smashed it, defying her family’s
line of wolves and walking away from the only life she’d ever
known. In return for that courage, she was rewarded with the most
loving family that was ever created, and she thanked her lucky
stars every night that she was so perfectly blessed.

The End

* * * * * * *

From The Author: I hope you enjoyed book 3 in my Wolf’s Mate
series. Stop by my blog at
http://www.rebutler.wordpress.com
to find out the latest news and musings, or drop me a line at
[email protected]
.
I’d love to hear from you!

* * * * * * *

Also available from R.E. Butler:

The Wolf’s Mate Series:

The Wolf’s Mate Book 1: Jason & Cadence

The Wolf’s Mate Book 2: Linus & The Angel

The Wolf’s Mate Book 3: Callie & The Cats

Novellas:

A Curve of Claw

A Flash of Fang

A Price for a Princess

A Bond of Brothers (Coming Soon!)

Coming
Soon:

The Wolf’s Mate Book 4: Michael & Shyne

Enjoy an excerpt from The Wolf’s Mate Book 4: Michael
& Shyne:

And then he saw her.

Heaven in a short skirt.

Near the tent covered arena where the boxing
matches were going to take place in a couple hours, the sweet
heavenly beauty was chatting up a few men, laughing and casually
touching their arms. His beast sat up and whined. Immediately,
everything in his body went on alert.

Without even realizing that his feet were
moving, he was suddenly next to her as the other men left with
brochures in their hands and smiles on their faces. He looked down
into her face as she looked up into his.

“Hey sweetie. Like to work out?” She smiled
sweetly, a lush movement that made him picture that mouth on his
cock.

He looked up at the booth. It read “Stone’s
Gym”.

He remembered to answer her. “Sure.”

“I’m Shyne. I teach group fitness at the gym,
but it’s a lot more than just me bouncing around in tight
shorts.”

Now that he’d like to see.